Congress of the United States Washington, D.C. 20515 April 10, 2020 The Honorable Steven T. Mnuchin The Honorable Elaine L Chao Secretary of the Treasury Secretary of Transportation U.S. Department of Treasury U.S. Department of Transportation 1500 Pennsylvania Ave NW 1200 New Jersey Ave, S.E. Washington, D.C. 20220 Washington, DC 20590 Dear Secretary Mnuchin and Secretary Chao: As air carriers apply to receive loans through the new Treasury lending program authorized in the Coronavirus Aid, Recovery, and Economic Security (CARES) Act (P.L. 116-136) we urge you to ensure that the needs of our constituents and all airports are considered. We thank you both for your efforts to quickly implement these provisions. As you know the Department of Transportation’s Order 2020-4-2 finalized on April 7, 2020, interpreting Section 4005 and 4114(b) of the CARES Act requiring continuation of air service, could allow for airports that provide critical services without air carrier service. We are concerned that the methodology for identifying covered points might allow for consolidation at larger hub airports and we urge you to consider the needs of our airports when approving applications and ensure that air carriers are fulfilling the minimum needs of all airports. We know from experience after major disruptions, it can take a long time for flights to return to these airports once recovery starts and these disruptions can cause long lasting financial harm to our airports. Ensuring airports can continue to serve our communities is vital. Our communities’ access to our national airspace system is critical to local businesses and residents in a global economy. In addition our airports all serve numerous military bases and the potential consolidation might negatively affect our national security operations. We urge you to use your considerable discretion under the law to ensure that air carriers receiving tax payer funds maintain service to our regional airports and that they do not use this difficult situation to abandon these vital economic drivers in our communities. Sincerely, Chris Pappas Robert C. "Bobby" Scott Member of Congress Member of Congress Manchester-Boston Regional Airport Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport /s/ Sean Patrick Maloney Grace F. Napolitano Member of Congress Member of Congress Norma J. Torres Ann McLane Kuster Member of Congress Member of Congress /s/ Tim Ryan James R. Langevin Member of Congress Member of Congress David Cicilline Member of Congress T.F. Green International Airport .